


Growing Pains

by luna65



Category: Rabbitt (Band)
Genre: 1975, BFFs, Boys will be boys and Rabbitts will be fun, Epic Bromance, Gen, General Antics, POV Third Person Omniscient, Period Typical Attitudes, slightly canon divergent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25323751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luna65/pseuds/luna65
Summary: Exchanging innocence for fame. (1975)
Kudos: 2





	Growing Pains

**Author's Note:**

> This is originally from 2009, one of my earliest attempts at a Rabbitt tale. I wanted to write something the equal of Georgina's photos for _Boys Will Be Boys!_

There were times he craved the security of home, the confines of his childhood room. Trevor had been so eager to move out, not that he didn’t love being around his family but a grown man needed his privacy. His mother clucked her tongue, knowing what he was truly after, but as always they indulged him, their special one.

Being home reminded him that he was no less special than his siblings in their eyes, a fact which rankled, sometimes.

“Mum, Trev’s been in there over twenty minutes now!” Amanda exclaimed from the other side of the door, her soft voice on the edge of a whine. Trevor ignored her, futilely attempting to fix one of his curls in the back which had a strange flip to it, sticking straight up.

“Trevor,” his mother intoned, “let your sister have her turn.”

Trevor wrenched the door open, frowning. “My hair won’t go right.” He noticed his mother was resisting the urge to roll her eyes. He knew she found it somewhat disconcerting to have a son who preened as much as her daughter did, maybe more.

“Mandy will help you,” she replied, as much pronouncement as comment, as her progeny made faces at one another. Amanda sighed and pushed her brother back into the room.

“Wot’s wrong?” she said, looking at the coif in question. They all had the same dark thick hair which had a tendency to curl if not constantly trimmed or fussed over. Amanda’s was long enough that most of the curls had become more manageable waves and she wore it pulled back or pinned up most of the time.

“There’s a rogue flip, can’t quite reach it.” Trevor handed Amanda the straightening iron. “See it back there?”

“Yes but, it’s in the _back_ , Trev. No one is going to notice.”

“As long as I know it’s there it’s going to make me spare. Can you fix it?”

Amanda did roll her eyes, she and Derek had dubbed their brother the Prima Donna and endured his various crisis for years…but now that Derek was married and moved away and Trevor had taken a place downtown with his band, Amanda found she missed her brothers, especially Trevor. Even as overly dramatic as he could be at times, the house had always been lively with music and his dishy friends. Now it was very quiet and her friends were reluctant to visit if Trevor wasn’t there.

“Ronnie rang, this morning.”

“You lie, Ronnie never gets up before one.”

“He hadn’t been to bed. He said I could come to the _braai_.”

“Of course he did, but I told you ages ago, none of my friends are good enough for you. Mum will wring my neck!”

“C’mon Trev, please? Never have time for fun lately, and no one wants to ask me out ‘cause they know I’m related to you.”

“As it should be.”

Amanda resisted the urge to place the hot iron against the back of her brother’s neck. “Trev I’m serious! Why can’t I have some fun once in a while?”

“Ballerinas aren’t supposed to have fun, hey? Too busy rehearsing and torturing their feet in those terrible slippers.”

“You had fun with some of _my_ friends, didn’t you now?”

Trevor smirked, recalling a few of the exceptionally limber girls he’d met courtesy of his sister. “Alright you can come, but stay away from Ronnie. You shouldn’t tease him like you do, with your feminine wiles.”

Amanda looked in the mirror as she held the disobedient lock of hair between the heated tongs. “You think I have some?”

“You’re a Rabin, aren’t you? We’re irresistible!”

“And not the least bit modest,” she proclaimed, releasing the now-straightened curl, spraying it with water for good measure. “There.” Amanda brushed the back of her brother’s hair. “Our rock star has perfect hair once more.”

“Thanks sis,” Trevor said, turning and kissing Amanda on the forehead. She nearly laughed to think how many of girls camped out across the street from the family home would _faint_ to know what he’d just done. “Georgie’s coming later to snap us in the backyard.”

“Is everyone staying to dinner?”

“Yeah. Gonna be like old times.”

“Lekker. Now get out, have to get ready for my master class.”

“What are you dancing this month?” Trevor asked, doing a exaggerated pirouette in the hallway.

“ _Giselle_. And I’m in the chorus, _again_.”

“Who’s gotta break their leg then?”

“Jennifer van der Holtz, of course.”

Trevor clucked his tongue as he executed a _plie_. Amanda tried not to snicker, he wasn’t half bad…she wondered which of her friends had taught him. “Ag shame Mandy, she’s far too pretty to sabotage.”

“And she gets cast in everything because she’s a full jaarpie, with that blonde hair.”

“You’ve just got to be that much better, y’know. ‘Cause you’re pretty too.”

Amanda forestalled her tongue against her typical complaint. _I’m Jewish, so I’ll never get picked for the lead._ But who knew? Trevor was a star now, wasn’t he? Although he was the best-looking of all of them, though she’d never tell him that for fear he’d be impossible to live with the rest of the year.

“I s’pose. But I can’t make a good impression by being late.” She then slammed the door in his face.

Trevor wandering into the living room, looking through the sheers hanging in the front window at the line of females directly across the street. Some of them had been there so long they had jacaranda flowers in their hair. He thought the neighbors would have shooed them away, but for some reason they found the vigil amusing. This was another reason why he couldn’t live at home any longer. At least downtown they always managed to duck the girls who followed them obsessively any time they were spotted. The front door of the Rabin residence was guarded by a very stern policeman, a friend of his father. Trevor saw a familiar car turning into the driveway and as the girls attempted to rush it the officer rose and waved his baton at them.

“One call, ladies, and I’ll have you picked up for vagrancy!” he warned.

They retreated, looking disappointed, but when Neil and Ronnie emerged, waving, their screaming was probably heard several blocks away. Trevor opened the door to yet more shrieking, rolling his eyes.

“Robot, I’m gonna pummel you,” he said by way of greeting, giving his friend a shove as he walked inside. Trevor then waved at the girls and looked over at Officer Hathaway.

“Did you want a cooldrink, sir? Or a sandwich?”

The other patted a metal lunchbox next to his chair. “I’m fine, Trev. You’d better shut the door before there’s a riot and I have to call out the squad.”

Trevor shrugged, looking embarrassed. What kind of job was that for a grown man, keeping a crowd of hysterical females at bay? But they’d already experienced that hysteria too many times to ignore the risk. He locked the door and turned toward the living room, where Amanda was now entertaining his bandmates with an impromptu performance. Ronnie’s mouth was slightly open, his expression stunned with wonder as Amanda exhibited willowy grace and exquisite poise.

_Gonna have Mum lock you in your room as well, you saucy minx._

They clapped with enthusiasm when she finished, bowing low.

“You’re ever so good, Mandy,” Ronnie said with a smile. “Can’t believe you didn’t get the lead!”

Amanda shrugged shyly, pulling on a sweater over her leotard and picking up her ballet bag. “It’s a cutthroat world, like your rivalries with other bands, I s’pose.”

“Beat ‘em all!” Neil declared, stretching and looking smug. “They didn’t stand a chance.”

“Don’t be late, pikkie,” Trevor said, giving his sister a very distinctive look of _stop flirting with my china, hey_.

“See ya just now,” she said in departure. Then she looked at Trevor. “Even you, doffie.”

“I won’t forget that, pikkie!” he called out as she exited the house, hearing the girls calling to her. _Tell Trev we love him!_ They all chuckled to hear her reply, “Well somebody has to!”

Trevor stepped over to Ronnie and pulled him up by the shirtfront. The other was about five inches shorter and pulled a comical face to have their leader staring him down with a dark scowl.

“My sister is off-limits. I am tuning you true, Robot.”

“Trev I would never!”

“Says your mouth, but your eyes say something totally different.”

Ronnie blushed, looking down at Trevor’s stocking feet. “Well she’s _beautiful_ , can’t blame a chap for noticing.”

Neil attempted to intervene, prying Ronnie’s t-shirt out of Trevor’s long-fingered grip. “She is at that, biscuit. Gonna have to worry ‘bout more than Ronnie looking.”

Trevor sighed, but continued to look suspicious. “Know you’ve liked her forever, so it’s not _just_ a case of spotting the butterfly. She likes you too, but she’s the baby, and Mum would kill me if I allowed her pikkie to get involved with the likes of you.”

“Wot’s so bad ‘bout me then?”

“You know what I mean. It’s not us she objects to, it’s the life. She has big plans for Mandy, and you are not in them.”

The debate was forestalled as they all heard more screams from outside. Trevor and Neil looked at one another with a grin.

“Duncan,” they said simultaneously.

Trevor answered the knock, pulling the visitor in quickly.

“DUNCAN I LOVE YOU!” one of girls screamed at the top of her lungs just as the door shut.

“And who do you love, Mr. Faure?” Trevor teased, giving his bandmate’s dirty blond hair a playful tug.

“I love anyone who’ll make me a cuppa right now. I’m still fully kussed.”

They all went into the kitchen where Trevor’s mother was peeling potatoes.

“Trevor, no more snacking! Dinner will be ready soon as your dad gets in.”

“Dunc wanted tea, but I don’t see why I can’t have another sandwich if I want.”

“Then someone’s going to have to go to market because you’ve already eaten everything I bought for this week!”

“I’ll see if someone from the office can go. I certainly can’t.”

“Yes,” she replied, frowning. That was another issue, of course, that they had all come home upon the release of the album, given that the local hysteria had built to fever-pitch and Robin had decided they needed to appear as good boys from good homes…which they were, but their living arrangements of the last two years told a somewhat different story.

Once the tea was ready Trevor took the pot and made for his room, motioning to the others who followed, cups in hand.

“I get on her nerves,” he said, closing the door behind them. “Having to be underfoot and all.”

“Mum told me not to come out of my room,” Duncan related. “Not even for supper. She’s terribly upset because the girls had been coming all along, and if there were only two or three she’d invite them in for tea and biscuits and a nice chat. But Officer Neville won’t let her do that anymore. She’s not taking this well at all.”

“Neither is my mum,” Ronnie responded, looking glum.

“My mum loves it!” Neil enthused. “Been spoiling me silly.”

Trevor rolled his eyes then looked at Duncan who was playing mother for everyone, pouring tea. “Your mum has a good heart, I can see why she’d be disappointed.”

“We tried to tell her we had to think of her safety too, but she says none of those girls would hurt a fly. We beg to differ, of course.”

They all grunted and raised their cups. As the others made themselves at home: Ronnie sitting backwards on the desk chair after clearing it of assorted clothing, Neil flopping on Trevor’s bed, Trevor went over and turned the stereo on, switching it to the radio. A song familiar to them all was playing.

“Oi – turn it up!” Neil said. “Love that one!” He lit a cigarette as Trevor turned the volume knob up just enough to enjoy the strident beat of “That Did It“ by Freedom’s Children.

“Robot, did we ever learn this one?” Trevor asked Ronnie as he cadged a smoke from Neil. Ronnie frowned, considering.

“Don’t remember. I don’t think we ever played it any road. Speaking of old times, hey, we saw -”

“For God’s sake don’t tell him!” Neil exclaimed, sitting up.

Trevor turned and faced the two of them, standing at his full height with arms crossed. Duncan recognized it as the authoritarian stance, which Trevor used whenever he was determined to have his way.

“Tell me what?” he demanded.

Neil made a hissing sound, but Ronnie looked sheepish, caught out.

“We saw Deidre, while we was getting lunch.”

“Who’s Deidre?” Duncan asked and was answered by a chorus of AAAGGG! from the rhythm section. Trevor sat down next to Duncan, passing him the cigarette.

“My first love.”

“Are you tuning me, biscuit?” Neil protested. “The first you did the deed with, but you didn’t love her!”

“I did so! We went together for two years!”

“You don’t know what love is,” Ronnie said, nudging Neil with his foot.

“I do too!”

“Who did you love then?” Trevor asked, taking a drag.

“Susan,” Neil replied but was drown out by the mocking laughter of his friends.

“The kak you say!” Trevor retorted. “You loved her tits, but not her.”

They all laughed then, even Duncan, letting out a shocked giggle.

“She had nice tits, didn’t she? No harm in that!”

Ronnie cackled. “Fully. We all loved her tits.”

“Popular girl, was she?” Duncan asked, smirking.

“Prettiest girl in Fourth Form,” Neil proclaimed.

“You lying kakbag, Deidre was the prettiest!”

“You don’t always get the best of everything, Prince Trevor…sometimes I do,” Neil sneered, and Trevor jumped on him as he lay across the lower half of Trevor’s bed, placing a hand around his drummer’s throat.

“I _will_ strangle you.”

“You’ll have the wrath of a thousand girls ‘pon your bushy head,” Neil gasped, reaching up to do the same, but Trevor took his other hand and wrenched it away.

“I’ll risk it.”

“For God’s sake will you two stop it!” Ronnie exclaimed.

“Get off my bed,” Trevor growled.

“Get off me and I’ll get off your bed.”

“Here bru, let me help you with that.” Trevor swung off to the side then pushed Neil to the floor with a sudden shove.

“Oh you kak!” Neil stood up and took a swing and Trevor grabbed his arms, pushing Neil until he hit the closet door with a loud _thump_. Moments later quick footsteps were heard beyond the bedroom.

“Trevor, no fighting!” his mother scolded from the hallway. “I mean it!”

Amid much snickering Trevor contritely answered “Sorry Mum!” Neil waggled his finger teasingly and Trevor sneered in a threatening sort of way.

“When you least expect it, biscuit –“

“You’ll take a short walk off a long drop? I’m counting the days.”

Ronnie threw a shirt at them, shaking his head. Duncan recalled the other had explained to him that their constant tussling - both verbal and physical – was ultimately harmless, just a release valve for their constant rivalry.

“So what became of Deidre?” Duncan asked, after Trevor came to lie beside him on the bed and Neil slid down to the floor, lighting another cigarette with a scowl.

“She got tired of following me from gig to gig, never being able to have a normal date. Said she wanted a proper boyfriend, and maybe I’m not that, but I’m not gonna change who I am; worked too bloody hard for it.”

“S’why none of us can keep a girl,” Ronnie observed, looking glum once more.

“Need a girl who understands that the band comes first…that’s just the way it is.”

“Maybe that’s why I’ve never been in love. With a girl, I mean. I’m in love with music instead.”

They all pondered that notion for a time, listening to the radio, smoking and finishing the pot of tea.

“So how’d she look?” Trevor asked, and the reference was obvious to all of them.

“Beautiful as always,” Ronnie said, looking into his cup of tea.

“Was she with anyone?”

“Not that we saw.”

“Didya speak to her?”

“No. S’at Rolf’s – Cloudy made me duck ‘round the corner.”

“Why?” Trevor demanded, sitting up again.

“Why would **we** wanna speak to Deidre?” Neil retorted, looking annoyed. “Any road, couldn’t call attention to ourselves lest we’d be mobbed and get no bunny chow.”

“Mmm, I could go for some of that now-now.”

Duncan looked over at Ronnie, who was snickering. They liked to tease Trevor about the bottomless pit he had for a stomach. A knock on the door sounded.

“What –“ Trevor murmured softly.

“Boys you’d better not be getting fractured in there, hey?”

Trevor bounded off the bed with a huge grin and opened the door. “Georgie my love!” he said to the lovely blonde photographer standing there with a heavy camera bag. “Not unless you can share, hey?”

“Naughty thing,” she teased, then winked. Trevor hugged her and placed a kiss on her forehead.

“Oh thank goodness you’re here,” Neil said, rising to greet her in the same fashion. “The natives are getting restless.”

“Well, Robin wants more wrestling,” she declared, “so let’s get to it. I’ve a date tonight so we need to wrap by six.”

“Yeah they were just practicing,” Ronnie teased, and Georgina snickered.

“With whom?” Trevor asked, looking hurt. “Can’t believe you’re stepping out on me!”

“Hush, you doffie. Very nice gentleman from the financial district.”

“Georgie you don’t need some rich bloke,” Duncan said, rising from the bed and taking her in his arms. “You’ve got us, and we’re much more fun!”

“That you are, kiddo,” she said, grinning. As they went out in the backyard, Duncan held Trevor back, pulling at his arm.

“You’ve got me all melancholy, Trev,” he said, pouting. “She who you wrote all those broken-heart songs for?”

“Yeah. But Pat says, and I quote –“ He drew himself up and did a near-perfect impression of their producer and mentor. “Heartbreak transformed into a hit single is the best revenge.”

Duncan chuckled. “Seems like we have to give up an awful lot for this.”

Trevor sighed, leaned against the wall. “It’s worth it, Dunc. It’s gotta be. I don’t have anything else.”

“Ag biscuit, you got us, y’know.” Duncan waited, hoping the smile he’d grown to love would be forthcoming, and it was. His heart did a funny hiccup.

“And you’ve got me,” the other said quietly, and then they walked out into the sunlight, ready once again to be captured by the camera’s eye for the ravenous demands of the girls who were ready to love them with a devotion which was almost frightening…even if it was only a collective fantasy.


End file.
